Arsenal, Fernando Llorente, and fan-boy logic

John Cross is an Arsenal fan, and as discussed on this site before, he has a tendency of publishing articles predicated on what he wants to happen rather than what he actually believes will happen.

“Fernando Llorente in frame for Arsenal transfer in January as Wenger plots to sign striker.”

That’s the headline from The Mirror this morning, and it’s pretty misleading: it implies that Arsenal are actually actively pursing Llorente, whereas in reality this is a move that Cross believes ‘makes sense’.

I’m not saying that drawing-up hypotheticals is a wrong, but just don’t dress them up as fact, and don’t use links which have plucked from thin air as a means to kick-start a rumour in a national newspaper.
“Wenger recognises the need to give his squad a lift and if they are in contention for trophies then a loan deal to provide back-up for in-form Giroud may be the perfect solution.”

Interesting, because the article is built on the premise that Llorente needs first-team football in a World Cup year, so being a back-up to Olivier Giroud - which, by the way, is completely beneath a player of Llorente’s calibre - probably isn’t top of his 2014 agenda.

You’ve got yourself in a little bit of a muddle there, John.

This happens time-and-time again with Cross, and that’s why so many people deride him as little more than an Arsenal fanzine writer - newspapers are for breaking news, they are not a public wishlist for reporters who are bad at disguising their allegiances.

He also drops a reference to Luis Suarez to provoke a few Liverpool fans, which is…predictable.